Meditation for developing affectionate love for all beings.
Buddhism guides us to examine our natural behaviors and responses, assess the pain they cause, and use our insight to choose more wisely, lessening our suffering and that of others.
The Buddha’s teachings highlight the importance of developing equanimity, encouraging us to see ourselves as valueless and to treat others with a similar high level of respect, challenging our innate tendencies to categorize people as friends, enemies, and strangers.
Equanimity is about maintaining a calm and fair stance toward all beings avoiding biases, dislikes, or apathy.
The journey to equanimity begins with the acknowledgment that every sentient being shares an equal wish to be happy and to steer clear of pain. This understanding applies universally, from our closest associates to our adversaries, and extends to all creatures across different planes of existence.
The Lamrim teachings stress the importance of moving past our fondness for friends and family and our hostility towards foes or those we find disagreeable. Such feelings of attachment and aversion stand in the way of true equanimity.
Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim: Developing Equanimity
We don’t want to devalue everyone to zero in striving to treat everyone equally. We aren’t trying to achieve equanimity of indifference. We are not seeking to reduce our appropriate affection for friends and loved ones.
Equanimity aims to view all beings with the warmth and caring we have for friends and loved ones.
To achieve equanimity at affectionate love, Buddhists return to the basics, the primary relationship each person has with their mother.
In The New Meditation Handbook from Tharpa Publications, meditation number eight is Recognizing That All Living Beings Are Our Mothers.
This meditation serves as a cornerstone, with many subsequent meditations relying on the insights and emotions stirred by contemplating their mother’s love.
Lamrim outlines the progressive steps towards enlightenment. A seasoned Buddhist practitioner harbors no resentment towards their mother.
A practitioner facing issues related to their mother resolves these conflicts as overcoming them is crucial for progression on the spiritual path.
This principle isn’t exclusive to Buddhism.
Are You Ready to Forgive Your Mother?
Upon discovering her pregnancy, your mother faced the option of terminating it, potentially ending your life.
Regardless of the legalities, the practice of terminating pregnancies dates back to ancient times, and your mother chose not to take that path with you.
You were essentially a tenant in her body, a presence she welcomed despite the discomfort and challenges that come with pregnancy.
Had she decided otherwise, you wouldn’t be here to read this message.
This is not speculation; it’s a reality.
Imagine being without a home and in dire need, and someone offers you their home, food, and care. You’d view them as compassionate and generous.
Your mother deserves the same recognition.
Without dwelling on any perceived grievances, you’d naturally feel compelled to appreciate your existence.
While you were in her womb, she guarded you as if you were a priceless treasure, always prioritizing your well-being.
She sought medical advice, maintained her health, ate nutritious foods, and took care of you for nine months, ensuring nothing she did would harm your physical or mental development.
Even if she wasn’t perfect in every way, her efforts ensured your survival.
Extending Mother Love to the World
In Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim teachings, recognizing that all living beings are our mothers is essential in cultivating loving-kindness (Metta) and generating a sense of closeness and compassion for all sentient beings.
First, the practitioner must feel genuine affection and love for their mother. Not everyone does. If a practitioner has a strained relationship with their mother, they may need to work on forgiveness.
Rather than allow a strained mother relationship to be a barrier, practitioners can also think about other relationships where they feel affectionate love.
I was particularly close to my paternal grandmother. Perhaps inappropriately, she showed favoritism toward boys. I was the first-born male from her first son, so I was special to her. She loved me unconditionally and was always very kind to me.
Most people have someone who was kind and affectionate towards them growing up. Focusing on that person can help generate the feelings of affectionate love this meditation requires.
The next step is to extrapolate that feeling to others.
Buddhism was born of a culture that believed in rebirth and a cycle of life after life that has been going on since the beginning of time.
Practitioners reflect on the idea that in our previous lifetimes, all sentient beings have been our mothers at some point. This perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings and fosters a sense of gratitude and closeness.
We are encouraged to contemplate the kindness and care that our past mothers provided us. Our previous mothers selflessly nurtured and protected us, often at great personal sacrifice.
In recognizing that all beings have been our mothers, we cultivate a deep gratitude for their past kindness, even if we cannot remember those relationships from previous lifetimes.
This technique is both powerful and effective. The next time you encounter a stranger, imagine that person was your mother in a previous lifetime who showered you with love and affection. Feelings of affection toward that stranger will naturally arise.
Imagining all beings as mothers in a past life is the foundation for expanding loving-kindness. Using this method, we can take the warmth and affection for people in this life and extend that to everyone everywhere.
Recognizing the motherly bond with all beings, we strive to treat everyone with kindness and fairness. Practitioners aim to develop a universal attitude of love and compassion for all beings, regardless of their background, appearance, or behavior.
Meditation on Seeing All Beings as Our Mothers
Recognizing all beings as past mothers is often integrated into loving-kindness meditation. Practitioners systematically generate feelings of love and well-wishing for all sentient beings, starting with those closest to us.
Ultimately, recognizing all beings as our mothers motivates virtuous actions, working for the benefit of others and striving for spiritual awakening (Buddhahood) to guide all beings to liberation from suffering.
Contemplation
Consider what you read in this post and focus on the following first-person narrative:
If I have lived countless past lives, I have had countless past mothers who loved, nurtured, and cared for me. Each person I met and each being I encountered was my mother in a previous life.
Object of Meditation
When we come to see all beings as our mothers of previous lives, we hold this recognition as the object of our meditation.
When we rise from meditation and encounter people and animals in our daily lives, we strive to recognize each of these beings as a mother from a previous life.
Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim teachings on recognizing that all living beings are our mothers emphasize the interconnectedness of all sentient beings through countless lifetimes. This recognition is a foundation for cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, and altruism, leading practitioners toward a universal and unconditioned love for all beings.
~~wink~~
Anatta